Now I’m no Luddite. Quite the opposite, actually. I love technology and there is no arguing that it makes our lives so much easier. But to totally get rid of manual processes so that we are 100% dependent on technology may not be the best idea. I personally like to have a “Plan B”. If one of my customers calls me and wishes to place an order, I like to know that I can process the transaction even if my Internet connection is down. Now I may not be able to process the charge immediately (although I now can now do so via my smart phone) but I can at least take down the information (yes, with pen and paper) and run it through later on, once the system comes back online.

Likewise, I have never been comfortable with the idea of moving ALL of my information to “The Cloud.”  I am aware of people who no longer store any of their information locally on their computer but rather everything is saved to someone else’s servers – such as Google or MobileMe. I do use the cloud to store my important files but only as a backup solution – my only copy is never stored on the cloud. In fact, I use several different online backup solutions, in addition to storing my information on my computer’s hard drive. I also perform regular backups to an external drive that I store away from my computer. I do not see the cloud as a suitable replacement for local storage.

So while I definitely embrace technology, I believe it should not be our only solution and recommend having a Plan B – and even a Plan C and D – especially if it could result in the loss of a sale. This reminds me of a blog comment that I recently read where the reader stated, “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, especially if it’s someone else’s basket.”

Photo by landofnodstudios